My brains workin overtime again here. It's a known fact that the greater the distance between the leaf springs and the axle, such as lift blocks, the greater the tendency is to want to twist the axle and have problems with axle wrap. So with this in mind and the fact that I have about a 6 inch block in my Dodge suspension from the factory I have a new plan here. What would be the drawbacks to getting rid of the lift blocks completely and replacing the whole spring pack with a set of custom springs that had enough bend to add this lift without the blocks. This would decrease the amount of wrap and torque on the axle and strengthen the whole thing up. Give me your opinions good and bad before I spend a bunch a money here.

 

getting rid of the blocks will help decrease axle wrap but when looking into rear leaves you wanna try to get a pack with alot of thin leaves compared to a few think ones makes it more progressive and less stiff and some companys if you were to get custom ones made can do a half of a leaf on top aka anti wrap leaf to also further control wrap. hope that helps

 

If axle wrap is that much of an issue on your truck you can also fix it by going 4 link, or traction bars help alot on lifted trucks and they are inexpensive... well, more inexpensive than a custom leaf pack.. one question i have is are your blocks made for your truck? do they put off the proper pinion angle? or are they just squared blocks? alot of times getting the slanted blocks to use for a lift will maintain the factory pinion angle and help reduce axle wrap too..



Just some food for thought..

 

exactly what chris said.......dont get a big set or arched springs.....the truck will ride like a brick, get maybe 2-3 inches of arch and the rest should be thin leaves......any spring shop should be able to make a set of custon rear leaves for less than 800 all new.....



and if you decide to do a traction device, go with ladder bars....and dont use those craptastic one size fits all ones from lift companies.....have a set fabricated......

 

like what was said along with a good set of springs trac bars are always a good idea for higher power levels my suggestion is either you can hook up a good trac bar and keep an eye out on your u bolts (make sure they stay tight) or you can go with a good set of springs and poss a trac bar if needed

 

My biggest problem with this stuff isn't the axle wrap so to speak but a lot of axle hop when I'm movin trailers around in the slick and mud. That back end get's to jumpin all over the place.

I have no idea how on or off the pinion angle is right now since I have the front end lifted. The front went up about 3 inches and the rear almost 2 inches and i haven't checked the angles yet to see how of they are. I'm assumin not bad with just that little bit. What's in there right now is just OEM squared off steel blocks from the factory.




The packs I'm lookin at are 8 leaf with a 4000 pound max load so it would also increase load capacity on the suspension. Mind you were not talkin legalities here. Ride like a brick, HAH this is a 1999 Dodge 2500, it can only ride so much like a brick and I think it's there.

Right now I just lookin at this from a common sence point of view, I don't know the technicalities involved. What I see is about 6 inches of block between the axle and the Leaf Pack, Hate It. I see 16 inch long U-bolts and to me that's a lot room for torque to snap even though they are Grade 8, Hate It. When I load this truck down heavy I see leaf packs bowed down over themselves frownin instead of smilin, Hate It. I can build a set of bars easy enough and add one more gadget to an already complicated machine or i can change out the springs and not need the bars and add additional payload capacity, Love It, if it's that simple.

Keep em comin and thanks for everything so far.

 

the hop is actually axle wrap in one of its worst forms I would go with a good set of springs and a trac bar knowing the info you just posted

 

I totally agree with Chris on this one.. Id go with a custom traction bar.. definately steer clear of those "JC Whitney - One Size fits all" deals.. you should be able to contact Fabtech or someone like that and get one that is made for your model of truck.. and have them throw in a set of angled blocks to correct pinion angle.. that way them U-joints will last a lil longer.. any suspension lift.. even 3" can and will cause premature wear on u joints, ball joints and other driveline and suspension components.. Another spot to watch is the rear seal of the trans.. and off roader that has put a huill billy lift on their rig knows that these things will wear out first..

Another thing to swap out when u get the suspension parts you want, are a set of high quality shocks..

Here is a few links that might help you out..


4x4wire.com

Rocky Mountain Suspensions

Hope that helps you some..

 

I just got done going a total rebuild on the suspension. Got rid of the hillbilly parts. Took the lift blocks out of the front end and went with 2 inch lift soft ride springs that put the truck 4 inches over stock for some reason, new set a Bilsteins and everything else under there. Doing this was the first time I actually took a good look at how Dodge put the rear end together and I didn't like what I was seein. So the truck rides great now but I want somethin different for the rear end now. The attached thread will show everything I did under there and a few pictures of the leaf spring setup I'm talkin about in case it helps explain it better then what I'm sayin here.

https://www.dieselbombers.com/5-9l-2...d-rebuild.html

 

good on you for getting rid of the spacers not a fan of anything that claims to do the job of the real thing.